A Catholic Blog
A priest writing reflections on theology, philosophy, and Catholicism. I'll occasionaly write movie reviews, rants, and discussion topics. I write from my experiences, personal and intellectual, for my benefit and yours (should you get any from it). None of what I write is official or representative of my diocese or parish, just my semi-public attempt at figuring things out and sharing it with you for the sake of dialogue.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Private Values and a Public Faith (Part I)

Do Religious Values have any Place
in the Public Square?

The general consensus among those of
faith and without seem to be “no.” Religion is a personal
preference and conviction. Personal convictions, while good for me
based on various experiences and reasons, are not grounds for me to
impose these convictions and others. I believe in God because (a) I
was brought up to believe, (b) it gives me comfort, and (c) it makes
me a better person. But someone else may have experienced religion in
negative circumstances. Likewise a non-believer may not share
feelings and values of religious pronouncements on reproduction,
family, and (deeper still) premises that inform public action and
(politically-speaking) policy.

A non-Christian, non-religious,
non-believer also builds convictions derived from his experiences and
holds onto them for various reasons. They too may have been brought
up to hold certain values that give them comfort and in turn,
according to those values, make them “better.” I use quotes for
“better” insofar as anyone, when he lives according to values,
wants to live up to those values he considers as good. No one, or
more accurately, very few of us ever embody fully the values
we hold dear—but the more we live our lives according to these
values we consider ourselves “better off,” perhaps because we can
decide on things more confidently or can discern and solve problems
more efficiently.

None of us can escape our upbringing
and no one is ever truly free to choose his own experiences. While we
are active agents in our lives we are also passive—things happen to
us whether we like it or not. We are just as informed by what we do
out of choice and by what we experience with no say in the matter. We
as humans, however, have a unique ability to reflect on our
experiences. More uniquely, since other animals also have memory and
learn from experience, human beings have the capacity to reflect on
their values and culture. This is not only consistent with ancient
wisdom but also modern science.

Man, by applying his reason to himself,
may reject what he has been given in a nearly-complete way. Moreover
some may even claim that we are unique among the animals insofar as
we know how we came to be and that we are also aware of how
we are wired (this imagery is by no means exhaustive). Because we
“know” we may also reject our wiring in some ways—the example
Dawkins uses is that we “rebel against our genes” when we
contracept, i.e., that we actively deny the 'desire' of our genes to
be replicated through propagation.

Thus both ancient sources, e.g.,
philosophy or theology, and modern sciences have agreed throughout
the ages that man is unique. He is not unique according to his flesh,
since his flesh and composition is not too different from other
mammals. Perhaps one might say that his brain as an organ is the most
impressive according to its construction and capacity. Man is unique
according to his reason—formulated in antiquity as possessing a
“rational soul”—because by his reason he can even master
himself.

While our knowledge,
scientifically-speaking, is still expanding on the subject of human
cognition we can see that we form connections, both socially (e.g.,
mother and child) and intellectually (i.e., neural connections), in a
way not dissimilar from other creatures. All but a few can recognize,
however, that we are capable of understanding how we work and,
by our own efforts, direct ourselves beyond mere instinct. While
evolution has brought the structure of our bodies and brains to a
certain point we also know that in the realm of human and
child-development the manner in which we teach each other affects the
way that our brain makes connections. In a manner of speaking we can
intentionally affect how our brains are organized. This organization,
in turn, affects how we act and interact. One may even argue that how
we act makes us more fit. Fitness in the narrow sense is simply
propagation. I believe that in a broader sense it involves more than
just reproduction—fitness also includes well-being, productivity,
and living in concord with fellow human beings. Thus how we regard
one another, work with one another, and help each other to be our
best is a benefit for both ourselves and for those around us.

These activities are achieved through
“values” which is shorthand for those conceptions which influence
dispositions, habits, and actions. Man, since he has been able to
communicate with his fellow man, has discussed values—what is good
and what is best—and likewise handed down those values. Values
themselves are tested by time and experience. They are tested by
hardships and challenges.

Reason and discussion, it may be said,
are what make up the furnace of values. Likewise values are applied
by different people and in different circumstances, thus their
weaknesses are exposed and strengths refined. How those values are
expressed are also important—do our actions actually mirror
our values? It is foolishness to think that we automatically embody
our values—living in accord with any value takes time, effort, and
humility. We must always recognize our weakness. On the other hand
when we do not attempt to live out certain values we do not actually
express them.

In a manner of speaking values are
physical and organic, both in their history and within an individual.
Consider the image of a tree: when a tree is planted it needs the
right circumstances and ingredients to grow. It may very well grow in
weak or sandy soil, grow in competition with other trees, grow to be
proud and strong, or simply die. Some trees by virtue of its light
source will grow in a different direction. Others may be twisted,
broken, and bent because of natural disaster. Nevertheless many of
them survive in various conditions and amid various trials. Thus,
while the tree may appear different in its external presentation each
tree is from the same heritage, source, or family (e.g., an oak or a
maple are still themselves despite their outward image).

Values themselves may die or they may
die in the individual. They may also take root and flourish. Every
generation is both the soil and the planter. We are the ones who,
having grown up, decide where to plant and how. Values are, in some
ways, of supreme importance for how we interact with one another as
well as important insofar as they actually affect our physical makeup
on the macro and even micro level.

With these in mind, we will proceed to
the next part and talk more directly about values and the people who
hold them.